pennyswings,

You can certainly use the standard 2.5 inch jelly roll width to make log cabin blocks. The block pattern will be there, but the size of your finished block will be different.

Using the 2.5 strips, each log of your block will end up 2 inches wide; using 1.5 inch strips, each log of the block would end up 1 inches wide. Depending on the size of the center square, if you use exactly the same number of logs, the 2.5 size will be about twice the 1.5 size. You would probably add fewer logs when using the wider strips, to keep your block size reasonable. If you simply follow the directions about light and dark placement, you will end up with the same block pattern.

I would make a sample block to see what size you end up liking for the quilt. From that sample block, you can figure out how much fabric you used, how many blocks you will need to make your quilt, etc.

Here is a website with standard measurements for quilts: http://www.thequiltcenter.com/measure.htm . They give the usual size for a twin size (single bed) quilt as about 69 inches by 90 inches. In reality quilt sizes vary depending on pattern repeats, border sizes, whether you want the quilt to hang over the sides, etc.

If you make your quilt to the 69 x 90 dimension, you would want to order 2 yards of the 108-inch wide fabric for backing.

Mary

To Penny:
I have El Burns Log Cabin Book and it uses 2 1/2 strips.
For a double it calls for 1/4 yd for centers. uses 2 strips
1 7/8 yd for light uses 24 strips
2 1/4 for dark uses 29 strips
That is just for the blocks.
It makes 20 one color repeat blocks.
I have only made one log cabin quilt and using her book it came out right and it is a nice quilt.
I buy her books at Joanns and use coupons for a good price.
The book has all the different layouts and borders and detailed instructions.

Mary;
Thank you so much for your help. Your answer was what I needed to help me figure out what I want to do. Looking again at the pattern that called for the 1.5 inch strips that made the finished block 7 inches, that was with a finished 1 inch center block. So if I use 2.5 inch strip with a 2 inch center block that should make the block 14 inches am I right? I like your advice about finishing one and seeing how that looks.
Thank you again for you help and for the website. I have booked marked it for future reference.
Sincerely,
Penny

Rosemarie:
Thank you for your reply. The measurements help a lot. Will have to wait until I come up to NY in July to look for that book. May buy on line and send to my son's house before I come. I may have to do the same for the material. I am retired and living in Argentina and unfortunately they do not have anything like a JoAnne's here, in fact they don't even sell 100% cotton in prints. I do most of my ordering over the internet and if shipping prices are resonable I have the material sent here if not I send it to my sister and she mails it to me. Of course you could not have known that but your advice was great. I will look for the book.
Sincerely,
Penny

Wonderful idea!! I had heard of making mini-pincushions of different fabrics to represent what used sewing machine needle was stored. Ex: small denim pincushion for denim needle, small knit pincushion for ball point needle, etc. Your idea of the tomato pincushion is even better!

I also put my needles, pins and such together with the fabric for an individual project. I like keeping everything together.

Also, When handquilting in my circular frame, I always loosen it a bit and pop the top off on one side to let the quilt rest overnight. That way, I don't end up with circular frame marks all over my quilt.

Yes, that's right. With 14-inch blocks, if you lay them out 5 blocks across by 6 blocks down, you will get a quilt size of about 70 inches by 84 inches. You can add borders as desired to get the size you want.

Just be careful to see if you can get the overall design you want from this combination of squares. There are many different log cabin layouts. The same size and layout made with 14-inch blocks can look quite different when made with 7-inch blocks. Smaller blocks create more design repeats.

What I have loved about log cabin blocks is that, once I have the blocks made, I always seem able to make a pleasing arrangement with them. I usually make a few extra blocks so I can experiment with different layouts. With the larger blocks, you may end up preferring a different layout from the one you have seen.

Mary:
Did some research on the internet this afternoon and found a great site that has lots of free patterns, mostly using small pieces of fabric like 2.5 and 4 inch widths. She has some beautiful patterns and they are all free. If you don't know about it here it is http://quiltville.com/index.html.
I got some great ideas and can use the jelly rolls to do them.
Thanks again for your response.
Penny

This tip doesn't have a thing at all to do with quilting. When the temps are low enough that your windshield washer fluid hoses are frozen, I keep a little spray bottle of it in the house and take it to the car with me. When I'm parked, I can spray down the windshield, use my wipers and my windshield is clean.

Forgot all about it until I needed it today. Sure came in handy.

Prism99:
Thank you for your reply. I am new to quilting, I have only made 8 quilts so far, except for one which was a rainbow quilt by Moda, they have all been my design.

I love the Log Cabin light to dark squares so I thought I would give that a try. Since I am new I do not have a very big stash of fabric and that is why I thought the 2.5inch jelly rolls would make it easier for me to create the colors and look that I want without having to buy yards of material.

All of the girls have given me really good advise and some great resouce material too. Your reply gave me something else to think about, how the pattern will lay out with the larger squares. I did not even consider that, duh, the voice of inexperience. But this is how you learn and that is why I came here for help. Probably best to draw out the design on graph paper and use someone else's suggestion of coloring in with colored pencils to see how they will look. Then I can also decide how many jelly rolls I will need to complete the quilt as well, based on the number of squares needed to complete the pattern.

Thanks to you, and all the women who have replied, again for your advice.
Sincerely,
Penny